Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.

After my test and wanting a bit more control, I looked at the inductor spring and it was a beast.

I swapped it with a TDZ spring from TTT and it is much more controlled. The stock spring is the heaviest I've seen in a Daiwa reel.

Also opened up the 4.9 just to see the gears. Teeth are still fairly small but the pinion is a beast. Also has a very long support that goes well into the sideplat bearing. Bunos porting on the driveshaft.

Does anyone know the Catalina bearing size(s) for the side plate & spool? Per the HH website, it's saying 3x10x4 and 5x11x4. Is this correct? The one bearing doesn't look like a 5x11x4 (looks smaller). Thought I should double check with everyone before making a purchase.

Does anyone know the Catalina bearing size(s) for the side plate & spool? Per the HH website, it's saying 3x10x4 and 5x11x4. Is this correct? The one bearing doesn't look like a 5x11x4 (looks smaller). Thought I should double check with everyone before making a purchase.

5x11x4 on the spool, 3x10x4 in the palm plate. I've still been running stock bearings in mine, but I'll go to either ZPI or Hedgehog AIR HD when I upgrade. This reel can also accept 4 handle knob bearings and 2 bearings on the level wind. I haven't done this to mine either, but Bryan at TT did his and said the the improvement in smoothness was noticeable on an already smooth reel. All that stuff is in stock at TT of course...

my only question is will the SV spool from a zillion TWS swap onto a catalina?

The Zillion SV TW (34mml will not fit.

The Catalina will accept any 1516 sized Zillion TWS. The 1516 is the platform the original TWS Zillion is.

I have fit the 1516 stock spool as well as a Ray's DIY spool, both fit perfect.

At 189 shipped...its a steal. I got temps above freezing recently. It slings cranks and has plenty of power. The reel is smooth and is THE reel for deep cranking. I have to edit the video I made on the water. It will explain more than my fingers can type.

Was talking with a buddy regarding the Catalina's line capacity. Decided to do the math but it doesn't add up in my opinion. Seem to not hold a lot of 20lb sniper. Tackle trap claims 140yds of 50lb braid. I used the info of basic PowerPro, 50lb has a diameter of 0.36mm. Pretty close to that of 20lb sniper, which is 0.37mm. Maybe the TT math nerds can help out to find where or what is the error.

I used the line capacity given by Daiwa, PE 2.0 - 150m. I used PE 2.0 Diameter = 0.235mm, seems to be pretty standard. I calculated the volume of the spool using that supplied information. I then calculated the amount of Sunline Sniper 20lb that would fit on the spool.

Was talking with a buddy regarding the Catalina's line capacity. Decided to do the math but it doesn't add up in my opinion. Seem to not hold a lot of 20lb sniper. Tackle trap claims 140yds of 50lb braid. I used the info of basic PowerPro, 50lb has a diameter of 0.36mm. Pretty close to that of 20lb sniper, which is 0.37mm. Maybe the TT math nerds can help out to find where or what is the error.

I used the line capacity given by Daiwa, PE 2.0 - 150m. I used PE 2.0 Diameter = 0.235mm, seems to be pretty standard. I calculated the volume of the spool using that supplied information. I then calculated the amount of Sunline Sniper 20lb that would fit on the spool.

All I can add is that my 4.9 Catalina holds slightly less than a 12 Antares. I had to remove like 8yds or so of 8-10lb mono backing when I transferred line.

Was talking with a buddy regarding the Catalina's line capacity. Decided to do the math but it doesn't add up in my opinion. Seem to not hold a lot of 20lb sniper. Tackle trap claims 140yds of 50lb braid. I used the info of basic PowerPro, 50lb has a diameter of 0.36mm. Pretty close to that of 20lb sniper, which is 0.37mm. Maybe the TT math nerds can help out to find where or what is the error.

I used the line capacity given by Daiwa, PE 2.0 - 150m. I used PE 2.0 Diameter = 0.235mm, seems to be pretty standard. I calculated the volume of the spool using that supplied information. I then calculated the amount of Sunline Sniper 20lb that would fit on the spool.

50lb Power Pro has a diameter of closer to PE4 compared to good Japanese braids. For example Daiwa Tournament Evo is rated at PE4, is claimed to be 0.30mm and break around 50lb. Japanese PE 2 will be much thinner in diameter, usually close to a good quality Japanese 8lb mono.

50lb Power Pro has a diameter of closer to PE4 compared to good Japanese braids. For example Daiwa Tournament Evo is rated at PE4, is claimed to be 0.30mm and break around 50lb. Japanese PE 2 will be much thinner in diameter, usually close to a good quality Japanese 8lb mono.

Correct. I haven't measured specifically how much line the Catalina TW will hold, but I have 20# Sunline Supernatural on one and 55# Daiwa Samurai Braid on another. I've made what I consider to be pretty long casts with both and the line capacity has not been an issue at all for me. I'm loving this reel... Here's a photo of one of my boxes with the specs listed:

Just spooled up my Catalina with 50lb. Sunline Xplasma Asegai, had to stretch it out in the driveway, 160ft. Box says .015 dia.
No backing, pert near a full spool.

So.. being curious, i took the 50 Xplasma and spooled it on a Tatula CT-R, spooled up perfectly. Spooled the Catalina with 16 lb. Sunline Super FC, box says .013 dia. Ended up with 250 ft of of line out. Still had a bit on the reel, the only thing that I can figure is the Xplasma has a much larger dia. The spec on the Catalina shows 85m. of 16lb nylon. So at 250ft of line out looks to be in the ballpark.

my only question is will the SV spool from a zillion TWS swap onto a catalina?

The Zillion SV TW (34mml will not fit.

The Catalina will accept any 1516 sized Zillion TWS. The 1516 is the platform the original TWS Zillion is.

I have fit the 1516 stock spool as well as a Ray's DIY spool, both fit perfect.

At 189 shipped...its a steal. I got temps above freezing recently. It slings cranks and has plenty of power. The reel is smooth and is THE reel for deep cranking. I have to edit the video I made on the water. It will explain more than my fingers can type.

I just caught your vids on this reel. I think I have to have it! I can't use the 4:9 around here for deep cranking as my lakes are basically weedy puddles. 8 feet is average with random deep spots. Some are shallower than that. I'll probably take a chance on the 7:3 as an all arounder and for smaller swimbaits like the Shellcracker, Gantarel, etc, and just crank slower.

Can anyone comment on any 8:1 or 9:1 gear sets available that will work with this reel?? I just purchased a pair of the LH 7.3:1 version from TTT and I'm looking to speed one of them up. Thanks.

I did test the Zillion TWS 9.1 gears in the 4.9 Catalina. The gears physically fit. I did not really try to make it work. I am sure some washer swaps would be needed. I can try in the next couple days to how to get it work.